Melvin Guillard (25-8 MMA, 8-4 UFC) still is haunted by the mistakes he made as a young man on the way to a successful career in MMA.

Evan Dunham (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) can’t get back a close fight, and people won’t let him forget the fact he should have won.

The lightweight headliners of “UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2,” which serves as a fundraiser for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, both are running from something, and they need each other to forget.

There’s nothing, of course, better to do that than scrap, and that’s what they’ll do when they meet Saturday at Fort Hood in Texas before Spike TV cameras. The winner is but a few steps away from title contention.

Dunham originally was slated to meet two-time contender Kenny Florian before a knee injury forced the former title-challenger to withdraw from the bout.

That leaves Guillard with a huge opportunity to seize thunder from Dunham, whose stock skyrocketed in the wake of a split-decision loss to Sean Sherk this past September at UFC 119. It’s one Guillard doesn’t want to squander since he’s now gained the maturity to recognize a chance when he sees one.

That hasn’t always been the the case. He’s stumbled several times in his quest to break out from the lightweight pack. Although he is one of the most dynamic and dangerous strikers in the division, he’s often been hot and cold inside the octagon – a product, he said, of unfocused training and unconcerned trainers.

Then there’s the personal tumult that marked his early career in the UFC, including the death of his father and an eight-month suspension served in the wake of a positive test for cocaine in 2007. And the mother of all storms, Hurricane Katrina, which he gutted out shortly before appearing in living rooms across America on “The Ultimate Fighter 2.”

It seemed, though, like he was often at the mercy of the wind.

“There’s a lot of things in my past that haunted me and kept me from being at the top, a lot of mistakes I’ve made,” Guillard said.

Now, he’s committed just to living right. He’s found stability in marriage and trainers Mike Winkeljohn and Greg Jackson, who have taken the fighter under their wing and tried to extract the quicksilver out of his abundant talent. He claims he doesn’t get sloppy at after-parties anymore.

It’s worked so far. Guillard now enjoys the longest win streak of his UFC career with victories over Ronnys Torres, Waylon Lowe and, most recently, Jeremy Stephens.

“A lot of it’s mental,” he explained. “I was 6 after my father died. I made a lot of excuses for myself because of my father’s death. I regret it now because, you know, my father left me and he always told me, ‘Son, you know, never live a regret. Never make excuses for yourself. Be a man, and take responsibility for whatever you do in life.’ And I didn’t do that for a long time. I got caught up with drugs and just the negative people around me.

“And I think that’s what’s big about what’s going on in my life right now. I don’t have any negative people, no negative energy around me. So if I was out there still messing up and doing drugs and messing with the negative people, I’m letting down all the people that really believe in me, including the fans.

“Now I don’t really think of myself first. I think of everyone else around me that loves me, and then I think of myself. And I just think of what would happen if I let those people down.”

But with four of Guillard’s losses coming by way of submission, Dunham arguably holds his kryptonite. In addition to a solid striking game, Dunham, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, owns six of his 11 professional victories by way of submission, including a bonus-winning tap-out of “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ winner Efrain Escudero.

But it was the Sherk fight that put Dunham on the map. Badly bloodied after the first round, the Eugene, Ore. native battled back with relentless striking pressure and had the fight in the bag, according to most observers. Two judges, however, disagreed and gave the decision to Sherk, two rounds to one.

Dunham gets stopped regularly by fans who tell him he was robbed. At first, it was heartening. Then, it got old. Now, he just wants to move on.

“It definitely sucks to have your undefeated record taken away like that, but it is what it is,” Dunham said. “There’s no going back and changing it. As far as dealing with a loss, I lost as an amateur. I’ve dealt with losses before, and I know how to come back from them.

“So it’s a bummer but I’ve just got to deal with it the best I can and that fight happened the way it happened for a reason. That’s kind of how I’m looking at it.”

All he can do now is correct the mistakes he made against Sherk and come back a better fighter. Guillard presents several stylistic challenges that Sherk doesn’t: longer reach, quicker hands and knockout power. If Dunham isn’t on his toes, or pressing the action against the fence, or on the mat, he could be put to sleep very quickly.

Although he’s flown under the radar for much of his UFC career, he’s not worried too much about the attention he’s getting after the Sherk performance. Next time, though, he’d like a fan to approach him about the fight he just won.

“I just worry about one thing at a time, and all that’s on my plate right now is getting through Melvin,” he said. “I try not to look too much ahead. That’s just me. I take one thing at a time, and I know if I just take care of what’s in front of me, then good things will happen.”

In other main-card action, heavyweights Matt Mitrione (3-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Tim Hague (12-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) clash. Mitrione, a veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter 10,” is gaining steam after an impressive decision victory over the tough Joey Beltran at UFC 119. Hague, meanwhile, is returning for a second late-notice fight after two unsuccessful UFC stints and three consecutive losses inside the octagon.

Additionally, featherweights Mark Hominick (19-8 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and George Roop (11-6-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) meet in a one-sided title-eliminator bout. UFC president Dana White has promised Hominick a shot at featherweight champion Jose Aldo if he can get past Roop. Hominick enjoys a four-fight win streak and most recently outpointed Leonard Garcia in the final fight of a three-fight WEC stint. A hand injury put him on the shelf for a proposed Aldo bout at UFC 125, and now Roop, a frequent training partner, stands in the way of a second title opportunity. Roop most recently took out “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung, by head-kick KO in his final WEC fight.

Heavyweight Pat Barry (5-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) returns to action after a broken hand and foot kept him out of action for the second half of 2010. He meets Joey Beltran (12-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a fight that could see the loser get a pink slip.

Lightweights Cole Miller (17-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Matt Wiman (12-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) also clash. Wiman returns to the cage after he spent the last quarter of 2010 on the bench with a broken arm. Miller most recently turned in an impressive romp of “The Ultimate Fighter 9″ winner Ross Pearson, and a war of words with recent UFC import and two-time WEC title contender Donald Cerrone has put a lot of heat on him.

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